Connect the Dots

Remember those dot-to-dot worksheets from back in the day?

I used to love creating pictures by connecting 1..2..3..4.. etc., and then coloring it in when I was all done (within the lines, of course, duh).

Boy, am I aging myself or what? I bet there is an app for this now.

Anyway, I was thinking about those designs as I reflected on how God is repurposing all we have experienced and making all the connections to create a beautiful design.

Our lives are like a dot-to-dot picture.

When we start, we have no idea how things will turn out. All we can do is draw a line and take one step at a time.

1..2..3..4

Things get really interesting when #5 is all the way down the page. It doesn't make any sense! Perhaps there was some design mistake or defect.

Don't even get me started on #8—that is all by itself over there. What the heck is that even for?

But we follow along, keep going, and continue drawing the lines, taking the steps, and making the connections.

As we get to #20, the picture starts to take shape.

It all makes sense when we reach the end and see how every number, experience, success, failure, hurt, and disappointment connected to create a beautiful masterpiece.

If we had tried skipping over any of those numbers, the design would have been altered and distorted.

We wouldn't have seen the whole picture if we hadn't made that long journey from #4 to #5 and continued in the uncertain valley to #8 and onward.

Each dot in the design of our life serves a great purpose and forms a connection to create a unique, priceless, and breathtaking design.

I have no doubt God is beaming with love and pride as he looks at you - his stunning creation.

All the things that have outlined your uniqueness cannot be duplicated.

You are a one-of-a-kind masterpiece created by the master designer.

So, how about we try to enjoy the creative process a little more—even when times are hard?

The outline God has created so far makes sense as we look back.

Everything we have experienced - good and bad - has made us wiser, braver, and kinder.

I can't wait to see how this design will look when it's all done.

It's gonna be a beauty!

Psalm 139: 13-14

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.